Barbara Grant Doyle

1927 - 2022

Barbara Grant Doyle

Hanover, NH â€" Barbara Grant Doyle died on October 9, 2022 at Kendal in Hanover, at the age of 94. She was born on October 28, 1927 in Everett, Massachusetts.

Here's how she described her early life:

"I grew up in Leicester, a small town in central Massachusetts, where my father was the pharmacist in the local drug store.

"During World War II, my two best friends and I served as a bicycle corps with the mission to carry messages in case of a German invasion. Fortunately, we were never called upon to do that.

"After graduating from Leicester High, I attended Colby College in Maine, where I met my future husband Bill Doyle at a meeting of the German Club. The war had detained him from finishing high school but the US Navy gave him credits in Airport Management enabling him to matriculate at Colby.

"Bill followed me to Brown where I was a graduate student in biology and he got his bachelor's degree in physics. We were married shortly thereafter. We went to Yale where Bill was a graduate student in physics and I worked in the biophysics laboratory.

"After Bill got his Ph.D. he accepted an appointment at Dartmouth as a professor of physics."

After moving to Hanover, Barbara raised sons Peter and Jeffrey, and worked variously as an electron microscopist; a kindergarten teacher; a medical technician; a computer programmer; and a volunteer at Head Start and Planned Parenthood.

After Bill's death in 2014 Barbara moved to Kendal, where she joined many other of "the ladies" she had known for decades.

Barbara liked picking Maine blueberries to bake into her signature blueberry pies; knitting hats and sweaters for her relatives; religiously reading Der Spiegel; reciting classic poetry; sharing knowing winks with her granddaughters; and making dry comments about persons, places, or things.

Frequent utterances: "As we get older we do not get any younger." "SNAFU." "Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose." "Don't care was made to care, don't care was hung." "It is perfectly easy if you have any strength in your thumb." "No force, no flatter, don't wish it, no matter." "What do dogs want?" "Do I dare to eat a peach?" "My friend, we will not go again or ape an ancient rage." "You can't fight City Hall with a ham sandwich." "Alles Vergängliche ist nur ein Gleichnis." "We all have to go sometime."

Barbara is survived by her two sons; five granddaughters; and three great-grandchildren.

Donations in Barbara's memory may be made to Planned Parenthood of Northern New England.